Official VAIO E Series Owners Thread

Hi,

just felt like it's time to make official thread for this new series. As I was a bit disappointed with the new F model, I got very excited when the EB series was announced.

FullHD on 15.5 screen and ATI HD5650 1GB in a nice body with many color possibilities? Very nice!

Too bad there are no information about this new series on Japanese SonyStyle. I'm curious with what kind of components it'll be possible to configure the new models in Japan. The other shops are a bit confusing. While US SonyStyle is offering just 1366x768, on UK Sonystyle you can choose version with FullHD.

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Now just wait for first reviews to come out to know more about the quality of the FullHD screen and the cooling system. Maybe there will be even possibility of i7 in the future models (?). Looking forward to meet this machine

eM.

 

Was only a matter of time. If it is true about the EA and EC then this thread might grow quite large...

 

I believe so. It's a pity that all first reviews and hands on are having the low resolution one with i3 and integrated graphics.

It seems like Sony wants to attract various market targets with this line. From low budget ones to gamers.

I would be curious about performance of the top model (i5/i7 + HD5650 + FullHD).

I just hope the FullHD screen will be nice and the quality of the speakers acceptable

 

Me as well. I know it might sound a little overboard, but I've been waiting 3 months to get my hands on a Sony.

I started at the SR, then grew to the CW and now I am seriously looking at the EB. I am thinking that CW is 2 heavy to carry every day and while good at games, not really a gaming machine. Instead i'm thinking EB and an S. They would be a great couple I think!

Now I have to wait till they hit the smaller stores!

 

Just ordered. (... for my wife !)

 

Me too. Ordered mine through the UK Sony Style site. I talked to the sales rep on the phone and I was told the laptop should arrive in 2 weeks time....so let's hope they stay on time!

 

why has sony moved from an i7 to an i5. which one is more powerful?

 

Yes, I'm really hoping that's the case. I need it in time for my wife's birthday in early March.

 

The i5 is actually more power-efficient, more computing speed per watt. The i7 has the greater POTENTIAL calculating speed overall.

 

thanks MelodyMaster. i might get this one if it comes with a blu ray writer.

 

Since the models above and below it come with bluray writers, I am dead certain that this too will have one.

 

yea but so far both available models on sony us dont have bluray writer. i see bluray player on the uk site. may be in future models

 

The more important question is, how does this new model position itself vis-a-vis the F-series ?

I can think of having a 15.4" model and a 17.3" model. But a 15.4" model and a 16.4" model ? There are rumors that a new 17.3" model is also on the way.

I think Sony should take a step back, cut down on the number of models and make the few ones that they do decide to tackle, to be market-leaders in terms of premium features, content, looks and performance. Than dilute their resources by spreading it out across a bevy of confusing models that are too close together to maintain any real separation from each other.

JMHO, of course.

 

i agree and maybe sony is trying to come right with the e series since the f started out badly.

 

I ordered a EB series from SonyStyle UK and a BD writer was definitely an option if you specified either a 512mb or 1gb video RAM, but not if it was an Intel HD chip.

 

I have a ship date of 19-26 February.

 

Actually, on the contrary, I would say that the F-series launch has been very nearly spotless. One or two very minor irritants in the product, which has otherwise been squeaky clean.

There was a very low but audible whine from the machine, for which there was a quickie 5-second workaround (which in turn has been fixed from the factory in all the later releases) and otherwise absolutely no other problems. I don't think the f started out badly at all, considering the complexity of the product itself.

Of course there is CPU throttling (to conserve power) when running on battery but that just means that when doing heavy CPU intensive work like video or RAW photo editing, you have to be plugged in......this throttling is not a problem when doing things like wireless browsing or watching videos or things like that.

 

Same here! I ordered mine yesterday on the Dutch Sonystyle website:

- Intel® CoreTM i5 430M
- Glossy Black
- 500 GB (5400 rpm)
- 4 GB 1066MHz DDR3-SDRAM
- 39,4 cm LCD, 1920x1080, camera
- ATI MobilityRadeon HD5650 1GB

€950,-

 

Very nice configuration Don't forget review for us. I'm curious how the HD5650 will compare to the GT 330M in the F/Z series.

 

JR just put a bunch of pre-config models up...

http://www.jr.com/category/computer...294562521-204-4294211408/sort-by-salePrice-0/

 

i'm now kinda torn between the f and e aahh doushiya. i mean i more on the youtube watching, playing a few games and learning japanese but i want a machine for the long run.

p.s games like GTA 4 or bad company 2 or games i can play in a couple years time. my recent pc cant even run win 7. 助けて

 

Well the E Series is definitely the better value of the two. But you can't go wrong with either machine, really. If you're looking for durability though, I'd say the F probably has higher build quality than the E.

There's really not that much difference between the two laptops, price and spec-wise. I chose the E simply because it's slightly cheaper and has a slighty(!) better graphics card. But with the F you'd get pretty much the same performance plus a bigger screen and a better build.

So if price and portability were non-issue, I would've gone for the F instead.

 

I would just dread the thought of owning a laptop that teenage girls around the world would have in pink, lipstick red, etc. Fear of walking into a coffee shop to do some work and discovering high school girls surfing and giggling over a laptop just like mine (but different color) is enough to turn me off. Plus as an owner of the glossy black AW...finger prints are a problem. But hey guys you could get the pink...it wouldn't show the prints at all probably.

 

thanks alot this helped me a bit

 

I think there will be quite a big difference in graphics cards. I am thinking at least 20%.

 

On first glance, The E series looks like it will be perfect for both me and my husband. Price, size, and internals sound right. We both really wanted at least a 15in screen, but preferred not to spend what the F was going to cost after configured. The F was too much and the CW was too small and the NW was too old internally. I see on SonyStyle US, the E isn't configurable just yet, but I'm sure it will be CTO come March when they are apparently available.

With that said, a few things:

Thinking of business, I was hoping to not end up with a glossy laptop. I haven't been impressed with glossy exteriors since I've seen other manufacturers introduce them. They may draw your eye, but most times, I can tell the build quality is not the best. I mean, who hasn't dropped their laptop at least ONCE at some point during ownership? Can you imagine? The CW was the FIRST glossy plastic laptop that looked solidly built (as much as it can be) and very nice on top of that, so I'll give Sony a pass on this one. Plus, its available in white! Still, I wish they kept the silver or soft bronze exterior that was on the NW minus the wavy lines to give a more professional looking option. I mean, those colors...... really???

I'll eagerly watch this thread for impressions, reviews, and pics from first deliveries!

 

@ mrsfox : There will also be a Gun Metal Black version that is not yet being shown on SonyStyle.com available on february 7th. This might be more business friendly.

 

Now that would be nice! Mrfox will go for the Gun Metal Black for himself for certain. For myself, I may be a little torn on whether or not to get that version or the white one since we don't want the same exterior, but I do like that the option is now there. Thanks for the info!

 

There will also be three matte finishes as well with the E series in brown, white, and silver.

 

Are you saying that the Quad-Core i7 chips like the i7-720QM and the i7-820QM are available for the E ? And also fast DDR3-1333 RAM ?

Unless, I am completely off the mark, I believe the Quad-Core CPUs are only available, if you step up to an F-series and the E-series gets only the dual-Core CPUs (i3, i5 and also the dual-core i7). Also, since the dual cores can only use the slower DDR3-1066 RAM, it does not get the even faster DDR3-1333 RAM that the F-series gets.

 

So those finished will be available in the US on the 7th? We are also hoping to get the i5 as well. Sorry if I missed it, but is there something out there that says what will be available come the 7th or at least by March? I looked around and didn't find much but what was for overseas.


eta --- wait, i7's will be in the E series? .... Ok, tonight I'm going to try to find out as much info on the E series as I can. I'm bouncing back and forth at the moment and probably missing some things.

 

To my knowledge, there are no i7s available in the E-series.

Now, they very well might add the dual-core i7 (i7-620M) in the future, but definitely not the Quad-Core i7 chips like the i7-720QM and the i7-820QM that the F-series gets.

 

These EB Series notebooks are considered budget to mid range priced systems. As of now there does not appear to be any i7's in the spec listings, just i3 and i5. All 9 color combinations are supposed to be available on feb. 7th, including that Gunmetal Black.

 

It sucks that the mic/headphone I/O is facing the user. That position really gets in the way (like my notebook now)

 

This too, is my issue at the moment.

Im in the market for a new 15"-16" laptop that will offer me a decent video card for some moderate gaming.

Ive looked at options from Dell and HP, and these 2 Sony Vaio models - the 15.4" E Series, and the 16.4" F-Series, seem to offer much better value for money at the moment.

Question for me is, which one do I go for? Both offer very similar options, especially if you go for the i5-520M chipset, which I intend to.

With 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and the aforementioned chip, best video card options, and Full Hd screen - the E-Series stacks up at about £800 at the sonystyle uk site, and the F-Series at approximately £880.

Which for me, begs the following questions:

- Is the extra screen space worth it?
- How does the HD 5650 1GB in the E-Series stack up against the GT 330M 1GB in the F-Series?
- How does the build quality of each model compare?

At the moment Im tempted to shell out a bit extra for the F-Series, but if the HD5650 works out to be significantly quicker than the GT 330m.....Ill be back at square one!

In any event, they both seem like very good laptops.

 

1. You wont notice the difference in the screen size. I had a dell sxps with 15.6 and could hardly tell teh difference to firiends 16" version

2. The ati 4670 in the sxps is much quicker than my overclocked nvidia 230m (clocked at 600/900/1320 so clocked higher than the 330m). The 5650 is about on par with the 4670 according to initial benchmarks. As an example I found in COD WOW about 20% difference in FPS

3. The build quality is very good on my CW and I would imagine the E series is the same. Also my CW runs incredibly cool.

Other things to consider:
1. The F series has backlit keyboard option the E doesnt.
2. The speakers are carp on my CW and from initial reports the E series are also poor. I havent hear the F series

 

The most important thing for me:

Does the E Series support switchable graphics?

In the german Sony Style shop, you can choose between the integrated Intel HD Graphics, an ATI 5470 with 512MB or an ATI 5650 with 1GB video memory.

As I know, the E has the HM55-chipset, so it "could" possibly support switchable graphics. But I found nothing about this, not at sony.de, sonystyle.de or at other sites...

 

Does the E series have backlit keyboard? I can't find any confirmation about this option.

 

I doubt that the E will support switchable graphics since the new S and CW with the new chipset doesn't seem to feature it.

The E series most probably won't feature a backlit keyboard since I am pretty sure if it did, Sony would have mentioned it (perhaps later on in the future it will be available).

 

I doubt it has a backlit keyboard.

Here is a hands-on, from Techradar:
http://www.techradar.com/news/mobil...ds-on-sony-vaio-e-series-laptop-review-667827

And one from Laptopmag:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/sony-vaio-e-series-eyes-on-would-you-buy-a-metallic-teal-notebook

And another one from Mylaptop:
http://my-laptop.co.uk/Choose/reviews/sony-vaio-e-series-hands-on-review.ashx

Strange: in the Mylaptop-review it is stated that the E-series has a LED-backlight screen. This would be great news !.

This link also states that the E-series has a LED-screen:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5528

Here is a movie on Youtube, somehow it's larger than I expected:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDvJ63LzY8Y

Here are some more photos:
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news-gallery/31205/sony-vaio-e-series-photos/1#image

 

Wow, backlit and LED? That's almost too good to be true. I can't wait for confirmation. I don't quite understand why Sony's website is being so weird with the details. With their phased color availability and stingy details, it makes me wonder if Sony even knows what they're trying to sell.

Are their VAIO releases usually so...haphazard?

 

That's the first I've seen of this on the backlit keyboard, not a deal breaker either way for me personally, but I know some people were wondering about it. If I can be sure those other matte colors (black, brown, white, silver) are available to the US as is to the UK, then there won't be a reason for me NOT to get one, and even that isn't so bothersome since its available in white. Just as long as the build quality is tight like on the CW.

Thanks for your posts Malta!

 

until now, notebook review is the only source that states that it has a backlit keyboard.

even sonystyle.com doesn't mention it

seems to me that it's an error on nbr..

 

Very curious about the Feb7 options Sony will release for the E.

THAT 'dog' ate their webpage again...Grrrrrr!!!! They should teach it some restraint (or at the very least come up with something new)

I wonder...will the GT330m performance be helped by the F's i7-820QM processor and the faster DDR 1333 ram when in comparison with the lower end i3 - i5 processors and the slower DDR 1066 ram in the E series?

 

Well it's very hard to say, if we couldn't test it yet And also I believe every game is different....some of them are depending on strong GPU, some prefer CPU. In general, I don't think the ram will make any difference at all and in most games nowadays GPU is more important than CPU.

 

@metsn

thks for the input. I will bench the F once my replacement unit arrives. It just made me wonder about other hardware issues that come up in various articles that I read saying for example if a videocard is built with the potential for GDDR5 but the computer uses DDR3 then the videocard downclocks to the lower speed.. Is this right or am I confused??

 

I'm with you. I really need to replace my current laptop and I've been eagerly awaiting this EB series. I can't wait to see the gunmetal black!

 

I'm also waiting here , the website is under maintenance atm...
I'll probably go for the E serie, I'm wondering if the battery will be acceptable and if it is a good laptop to play games with.

 

Anybody order one yet ?

 

There is no 1920 x 1080 screen resolution option, just the basic 1366 x 768. Lame.